


The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known

by Elizabeth Culmer (edenfalling)



Category: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Genre: 3 Sentence Ficathon, Gen, Introspection, Post-Canon, Prompt Fic, Social Anxiety, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23280655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenfalling/pseuds/Elizabeth%20Culmer
Summary: The terrifying corollary of "write what you know" is that people who read your work willknow you.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 114





	The Mortifying Ordeal of Being Known

**Author's Note:**

> Written 2/18/20 for anonymous, in response to the prompt: [Murderbot, Murderbot, writing a new story](https://rthstewart.dreamwidth.org/157880.html?thread=8043704#cmt8043704).

When Pin-Lee suggested I try writing a story of my own, either _Sanctuary Moon_ fanfiction or something completely new, I told her one reason I like _Sanctuary Moon_ is that I already know everything that happens, and that completely new stories are impossible by definition.

She hummed to herself and said, "Okay, fair, people are people and you can't escape tropes, but you can still mix them up in a new way and bring your own perspective and narrative voice to the table; why not write a story that treats SecUnits realistically instead of as vicious, faceless mooks?"

I didn't have the words to explain how terrifying and wrong that idea was -- the closest I can come is that it would be like stripping away all my clothes and weapons and skin, only metaphorically, which I couldn't tell her because talking about it would just be a shallower version of that kind of painful nakedness -- but now I can't get it out of my head, because apparently my organic components have a unparalleled capacity to latch onto terrible ideas, and I'm starting to think I may have to write something for myself even if I never share it with anyone else.

I think I might call it the Murderbot Diaries.


End file.
